Move to New Zealand?

[[FnG]magnolia]

I'd probably go against some of the advice in this thread and suggest that Auckland has more to offer depending on what you want/are used to. Wellington is a small city which is great because it's very manageable but it's one hell of a windy place and you don't live there for the weather. It will almost certainly have better weather than wherever you are in the UK but that's not its main draw. It has a nicer, almost town-like atmosphere than Auckland and is a more relaxed place too (this extends to ways of office working). Lots of Government jobs there, and some tech jobs as well, but otherwise limited - it sounds like you have an offer so this may be less relevant but could become important if that job falls away at a later stage.

I wouldn't live in Christchurch if I were paid to do so. It is a miserable city with grand ideas far above its station, and has a very hierarchical community (which is hilarious because it's, well, New Zealand). It's without doubt the worst part of NZ I've ever had the misfortune to find myself in.

Auckland is great if you can afford what will be a very expensive house or apartment. You can use trademe.co.nz and look at properties in various locales but you'll be looking at NZ$1m absolute minimum to get anything more than a 2 bed house in a decent part of town. Transport is good, traffic is bonkers but not at London levels, and there is a ton of stuff to do (but this goes for most of NZ, too).

I wouldn't go to far north to live. It's beautiful but it gets rural and small-town very quickly. Having said that, this might be what you want but I'd be surprised if that played nicely with wherever your job is based. An option might be to have an apartment or house in [x] city and have a 'bach' (holiday home) somewhere further afield. This is expensive but we love it.

Any questions just shoot and I'll do my best to add my 2 cents.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I'd probably go against some of the advice in this thread and suggest that Auckland has more to offer depending on what you want/are used to. Wellington is a small city which is great because it's very manageable but it's one hell of a windy place and you don't live there for the weather. It will almost certainly have better weather than wherever you are in the UK but that's not its main draw. It has a nicer, almost town-like atmosphere than Auckland and is a more relaxed place too (this extends to ways of office working). Lots of Government jobs there, and some tech jobs as well, but otherwise limited - it sounds like you have an offer so this may be less relevant but could become important if that job falls away at a later stage.

I wouldn't live in Christchurch if I were paid to do so. It is a miserable city with grand ideas far above its station, and has a very hierarchical community (which is hilarious because it's, well, New Zealand). It's without doubt the worst part of NZ I've ever had the misfortune to find myself in.

Auckland is great if you can afford what will be a very expensive house or apartment. You can use trademe.co.nz and look at properties in various locales but you'll be looking at NZ$1m absolute minimum to get anything more than a 2 bed house in a decent part of town. Transport is good, traffic is bonkers but not at London levels, and there is a ton of stuff to do (but this goes for most of NZ, too).

I wouldn't go to far north to live. It's beautiful but it gets rural and small-town very quickly. Having said that, this might be what you want but I'd be surprised if that played nicely with wherever your job is based. An option might be to have an apartment or house in [x] city and have a 'bach' (holiday home) somewhere further afield. This is expensive but we love it.

Any questions just shoot and I'll do my best to add my 2 cents.

I’ve never seen you write this much without a single joke!

 

[SideWinder]

I’ve never seen you write this much without a single joke!

I saw at least 3...?

OP - I would only move somewhere it i could visit first...would this be an option?

 

[[FnG]magnolia]

Not right now it's not. Borders are closed and will be to the UK for some time.

 

[SideWinder]

Not right now it's not. Borders are closed and will be to the UK for some time.

Hmm. Tricky.

Actually...semi serious with this but Google Streetview could be something to use.

 

[wez130]

OK, I made the move in October 2017. I love living here, I live in a village about 70km north of Auckland, it's far enough away to not feel like the city, but close enough that I can be there in an hour. I would not like to live in the city, it is just that, a city, like Manchester, or Leeds whatever. It's nothing special, it's not laid back and does not portray New Zealand as it should. I've been all around North island (except Gisborne / Napier) in the 5 years i've spent visiting, and finally settling here and it is diverse, some great places to visit. I have not travelled to South island as of yet, though i will be flying to Queenstown in just over 2 weeks for my first SI visit which i'm really looking forward to!

My biggest dislike of New Zealand is property prices, in the city, where you're more likely to find work, they are extortionate, both buying and renting. The mean average price for Auckland (Greater, including where I am), is about $900k,I believe the average Auckland salary is about $66k (which has gone up quite a bit actually in the 3 years i've lived here). The lowest prices for property are about $500/600k which will basically get you a 90sq m box miles from the CBD if you're lucky (or a 30sqm apartment leasehold in the CBD). 'Reasonable' rentals start at about $300 / $400 per week for a 1-2 bed house or granny flat, or literally even a shed on somebodys land! Some landlords are THAT greedy! I saw someone advertising shared space in a double bed for $150 a week last week! Yes, literally sharing a bed with a complete stranger. On the plus side, you don't pay council tax if you rent. I was lucky with where I live, i rent a 1 bed house with garage and stunning sweeping sea views and I pay $320 a week, and have done for almost 2 years, I love waking up here every morning I am rural though, which is also really nice, it's quiet.

Despite property prices though, I absolutely love living here and have no intention to ever go back to UK, holidays to Oz are easy, as well as places you'd only dream of going from UK, like Fiji, and even Bora Bora lol. Shopping is gradually getting better over here now, food shopping is i'd say 'on a par' with UK in the most part, some things are more expensive, for example, cucumbers will soon be about $7 each over here, but are cheap as chips in season, it's not like we can import our produce as easily as you can in UK, but that challenges you, and you'll always eat fresh, seasonal produce. Meat is pretty well priced, steak is cheaper here than in UK (Scotch fillet (rib eye to you) is about £10/£12 per kilo usually), toilet rolls and laundry powder are cheap, chicken is a little more expensive here, decent sausages are hard to find!

Some people aren't cut out for life here though, there's a group on facebook called ping pong poms, maybe you should join and get the opinion of those who it hasn't worked for too. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have though too.

 

[Old Man]

I have lived in several countries (not NZ though) and you need to make a list of costs that you expect to make use of every month and see
if your salary etc match up ok. Not sure what kind of health system they have for people just coming over or if you must wait a certain amount of time
before being eligible to receive full health care, but look in to every potential cost you can think of, including retirement/pension. What happens if you lose your job
(for whatever reason) after 6 months (seeing if you need to have been employed for a certain time before you're allowed to freely look for employment).

 

[johntmanic]

We (me and the wife) moved to Auckland in August 2019 after being offered a job and we always count ourselves being lucky for being here. We absolutely love the place. We had never been to the place before but we knew it was not going to be worse than Wigan so just went for it blindly. We shipped our full house and 2 dogs.
Living costs, i.e. rent are high but everything else is generally comparable.
We have absolutely no intentions of going back to the UK any time soon.

 

[wez130]

Well, Auckland is certainly better than Wigan

Where in AKL are you? There are a few of us here in AKL now, we should have a NZ meet lol

 

[johntmanic]

Well, Auckland is certainly better than Wigan

Where in AKL are you? There are a few of us here in AKL now, we should have a NZ meet lol

If I got offered a job in Helmand Province I still would've given it thought over Wigan mate

I'm on North Shore in a small place called Torbay. I love it on the North Shore, when I come over the bridge from Auckland going North I get a sense of 'home feeling' as soon as I get on this side

I'm not meeting in Hamilton if that's what you want ha ha.

 

[timmothy]

We lived over there for two years on a working holiday visa and had to leave in February. It's an amazing country and we would move back in an instant if we had the skills for a full work visa.

We spent a portion of it living in both Tauranga on the north island and fox glacier on the south. The majority was spent living in a little nissan Serena seeing as much of the country as possible.

I would recommend Tauranga out of everywhere we saw. It has the best of everything apart from huge property prices due to all the Aucklanders moving in for better weather and lifestyle. There are some lovely little towns around the country but both me and my girlfriend found them to have a very isolated feeling. Great for a holiday but maybe not to live. Napier was another nice town that we wouldn't mind moving to and again weather is good.

 

[bloodiedathame]

Go!

 

[randomshenans]

Just go...... Honestly

If it works out. Awesome.

If it doesn't. Move back with a lot of life experiences.

You have a job! what more can you really need. Sure missing family is hard but Skypes amazing.

I 100% echo this. My move was no where near as far as NZ but I'd never been to Basel before. I knew France though, so was like meh, will be fine! Will learn all about it when I'm there and haven't looked back. So many people have doubts but the experiences since have been so far beyond anything I would have had if we'd stayed in the UK. Just windmill in and work it out, it's part of the fun!

 

[burtie]

Are you still here? What are you waiting for. Someone ban him if he doesn't go.

 

[413x]

I won't bother trying to put into words how jealous I am of the opportunity that has presented itself to you, safe to say I would rip their arm off

Same

 

[tlrBeta]

Even it's a temporary thing, I would be gone.

Me and my wife considered it some time ago, however we didn't want to have kids (her not me) that far from family. I don't regret it, however when I visited Aus in 2009 - I fell in love with Melbourne. Though I haven't been to NZ, it looks more of the same and definitely a place of you make it what you want it to be.

Sun, snow, sea, mountains - what's not to love? As above, I would be biting their hand off.

Even if you have say house commitments here, can't you just rent it out?

Good luck!

 

[McstylisT]

I would GO !!!

different way of life. Slower, warmer and more time to enjoy “life” compared to the lemming world economy of the UK.

I have family out in Australia. They would never come back.
One day I’ll make it out too.

 

[[FnG]magnolia]

Interesting to see @wez130 's views as they're the opposite of mine. What it highlights is you need to know what you want: village life, rural, very small town and lovely, or a bigger city (and I'd take exception with wez's description of Auckland but I'm biased). Anyway, you probably won't have much choice as your job will dictate where you live but I think you'll be getting the gist from most of the posters in your thread, OP - get moving asap.

 

[Shadowness]

Having been lucky enough to visit there a few times for work (only the major cities though, so didn't get to see much of the 'Lord of the Rings scenery') I would say DO IT!

NZ seems like a little utopia all the way down there. Sure, they probably have their issues, but how often to do ever hear NZ in the news? (apart from recently!) Everyone is really nice, and they seem to take pride in their country and look after it, if you know what I mean.

Definitely seems much more chilled and relaxed compared to the UK too!

 

[Blackjack Davy]

Low population density roads quiet outside of main cities, no motorways other than around cities, equable climate, virtually no coronavirus, go! If I got the chance I'd be out of this overcrowded polluted virus ridden craphole of a country in a moment.